Device for synthesizing gas.



W. SIBBBRT.

DEVICE FOR SYNTHESIZING GASES. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1905.

1,061,786. Patented May13, 1913,

Witnesses: Inventor:

Werner Siebert, by

UNITED dTATlEZh @FFTQE WERNER SIEBERT, F CHARLOTTENBU, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A. CORJPQRATIONOF NEW YORK.

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Specification of IJet-ters Patont.

Patented May 113, rats,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it-known :tl'lial'hI WERNER SIEBERT, a subject of the King of Prussia, residing at Charlottenburg, (zermany, have invented certain new and vuseful Improvements in Devices for synthesizing Gases, of which the following is a specification;

This: invention relates to the process of bringing about the combination of gases such as atmos herio nitrogen and oxygen and comprises 0th a method and a device to combine these gases under the-most econominal conditionsof energy consumption.

The technical application of the wellknown process 0t burning-the nitrogen by means .otan arc of high potential depends tonits success upon some procedure 01' device for spreading out the are as much as possible.- Various means to accomplish this effect have. {been devised. The blowing-out efiect .ot the electromagnet. has been employed to scatter the arc. The are has been drawn out to a great length and the air currents passed in a spiral whirl about the axial arc. In both ofthese methods the gases are removed comparatively slowly out of the influence of the are, thus causing the oxid of nitrogen to decompose in the colder regions of the arc. Not a small part of the electrical energy is thus needlessly lost...

This undesirable efi'ect is avoided in the present invention. By a peculiar motion of the air current the arc is not only spread out as far as possible but the air once acted upon' is suddenly and strongly cooled as it leaves the influence of the arc.

The means for accomplishing this purose may be better understood from the folowing description taken'in connection with the accompanying drawings.

The features of novelty are pointed out in the appended claims. 7

Fi ure 1 shows a longitudinal section of my d evice; Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section of a slightly modified form of the apparatus.

Inside the drum 1, Fig. 1, which may be made of iron, is placed a smaller concentric iron cylinder 2, electrically insulated. from the outer c linder 1 and closed onall sides. Both cylinders are connected to a source of electric current 3.

A concentric ring of iron 4 of same height 20 to 100 told greater than, this distance and such that. current at the operating voltage cannot ump across. v

Afan 6, connected to some suitable source of power 7 below the inner concentric cylindex. 2, gives to the air or other suitable mixture of gases entering the drum. at an intakopipe 8 a whirling upward motion.-. The

1 spark or are. forming at the end of the rod 5 is blown upward by theair current and is forcedto glide along. the space intervening between cylinder Qanchthe drum 1 as at ring 4. This circularwmotion is. so rapid that. the s ark or are takes the form of a fiat disk-like. discharge and -.fills the intervening; space almost completely. The air currentspass in a screw-like motion through the arc, and the individual air particles remain in the same just long enough so that the theoretically pdssible amount of oxid is formed. When the air leaves the are it mixes instantly, because of its velocity, with the air already cooled so that a decomposition of the oxids already formed can no longer occur. The gases leave the drum through an exit pipe 9.

The air encompassed by the are being heated is a better conductor of the current than the air'surroundin the end of the rod 5 which is cool. There ore, a striking back of the are seldom occurs. It is well, in order to further ard against a possibility of striking bac not to let the operating ,voltage rise as high as that necessary for starting. This may be easily done by means of a choke coil. The regulation of the s eed of the air current will likewise contri ute to prevent the are from striking back.

Othermeans of communicating a whirling motion to the air in the drum readily engpass between the concentric cylinders 13 and 14 in the same way as shown in Fig. 1. The are is started in the same way from the tangential rod 15.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is,

1. The process of producing chemical reactions in gases which consists instarting an are between electrodes separated by an annular space, passing the gases while rotating in said spa'ce across said are, thereb forcing said are to. glide along the annu ar s ace whereby the electric discharge takes a isklike form.

:2. The process of causing chemical reac-- tion in gases which consists in striking an are by a high voltage current between cylindrical electrodes separated by an annular space and passing the gases with a whirling motion across the arc, thereby shifting the same to a point at which the se aration of said electrodes is greater than t e striking distance of the o crating voltage, and causing said are to gllde alon said annular space where it appears as a dis -like flame.

'3. The process which consists in starting an arcv between concentric electrodes at a point of least separation by high voltage discharge, passing gases in a whirling motion between said electrodes, thereby transferrin the are to a point of greater separation 0% means for striking an are between said electrodes and means for passing air in a spiral path in a general forward direction at right angles to said arc.

'5. The combination of a cylindrical electrode, an insulated electrode, situated within the same, the upper surfaces of said electrodes being substantially in the same plane, a source of electric current, means for start ing'an arc discharge across the space intervening between sald electrodes, and means for setting the gases intervening between the concentric electrodes into a progressive whirling motion.

6. The combination of a cylindrical, metallic drum, a shorter metallic cylinder located in the drum and separated therefrom, said drum and ,cylinder constituting concentric electrodes, a source '0; current therefor, means for striking an are between said electrodes, and means for driving with a rotating motion gases to be chemically acted upon through said drum at a rate which will cause the arc to assume afiat, disk-like form.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my handthis 18 day of January, 1908.

WERNER SIEBERT.

Witnesses Gao. GIFFORD, WILHELM RIENZ. 

